Primarily because of its oblong shape, a football is difficult to pass and catch. In order to pass a football accurately over any meaningful distance, the passer must not only launch the ball into the air, but must also simultaneously impart a rotation to the ball about its longitudinal axis. The tighter this rotation, the greater distance over which the ball may be accurately thrown. In order to catch a football, the receiver must grasp the ball and stop this rotation. Because it is difficult to stop the rotation of the football by grasping either of its pointed ends, the receiver must catch the ball by its central body portion. For these and other reasons, the skills of passing and catching a football have long been recognized as difficult to acquire.
In an effort to assist both the professional and the amateur or recreational football player to develop the skills of passing and catching, modifications have been made to the conventional football. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,194,674 to Riddell discloses a football with a plurality of surface ridges. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,466 to MacDonald et al. dicloses a football having an air passage extending through its longitudinal axis. The diameter of this air passage decreases from the outer ends thereof to a constricted opening midway of the length of the football. The purpose of such modifications is to enhance the desired rotation of the football and thereby obtain greater distance and accuracy.
However, such prior art attempts to modify a football fail to maximize air flow in order to enhance rotation of the ball. The surface ridges taught by Riddell are of minimal or even negligible effect because the ridges emanate from the ends of the ball. As a result, the ball will displace air well beyond the purview of the ridges. Furthermore, these ridges hamper the receiver learning to catch the ball because they protrude from the surface thereof. Especially for the professional athlete, it is imperative that any football used for training be similar as possible to that used in actual play. While the football shown by MacDonald provides a venturi-like configuration that is said to assist in throwing the ball over greater distances, it fails to utilize the flow of air through the passage along the football's longitudinal axis to enhance rotation of the ball. As noted above, the better the relation of the ball, the more accurately it may be thrown. Thus, the MacDonald modification fails to address this principal concern of one learning to throw a football.